Army accuses NGOs of funding terrorist activities in North East
Andrew Orolua, Abuja
The Nigerian Army has disclosed that its accusation that some non-governmental organisations were clandestinely funding the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East has been collaborated following the arrest of a leader of the group.
This is coming as the army reiterated its accusation that some non-governmental organisations operating in the North East were breaching security and sabotaging ongoing counter -terrorism operations in the zone.
Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, said the military established this fact after the arrest of a Boko Haram commander, Mohammed Modu on Sunday.
Col. Musa recalled that the army had in 2018 levelled a similar accusation against non-governmental organisations operating in the region.
He said that the high profile commander who belongs to the Abubakar Shekau’s faction of the terrorist group revealed during preliminary investigations that the Shekau’s faction of Boko Haram has been receiving “humanitarian support of food and drug supplies from some non-governmental organisations operating in the North East.’’
The army spokesman described the non-governmental organisations actions who provide logistics support to terrorists, as “serious security breaches’’ and therefore, warned the affected organisations to “desist from compromising Nigeria’s national security and efforts against terrorism.’’
He further advised them to operate in accordance with the extant rules and regulations guiding the operations of humanitarian aid workers, adding that the organisations must also operate in line with the guidelines and procedures of International Humanitarian Laws, as well as the Laws of Armed Conflict.
“The Nigerian Army will no longer tolerate such acts of sabotage, inimical to the fight against terrorism by any organisation or agency, and will not hesitate to sanction any such recalcitrant organisation as appropriate,” he warned.
Daily Times recalls that the army had in December 2018, suspended the operations of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in the North-East theatre for similar alleged offences, but public outcry made it lift the suspension.
